What unusual things do you grow?

katholicos

lostinrates wrote: »

Honey berries...has anyone eaten them? the description IS appealing...

Last year i planted blueberry, gojiberry and honeyberry and none of them fruited (i didn't expect them to though as they arrived as, well, little sticks!)...i did get all of ONE blueberry...but this year may be a different story, the blueberry now has buds forming as does the honeyberry, the gojiberry has a few, but very few. I'm hoping to get to eat some this year...i'll let you know what they are like, hopefully.

OP...amongst other more ordinary veg and soft fruit i'm going to be trying to grow the following this year: cereriac, kohl rabi, artichoke, asparagus (i know i can't eat it this year or even next, probably), Good King Henry, Strawberry Sticks, a variety of herbs, comfrey, white sprouting brocolli and purple sprouting brocolli, aloe vera, cape gooseberry and aubergine.

Some of them have germinated, some of them haven't yet. I tried cape gooseberry and aubergine last year but ad zilch success, they grew but didn't produce fruit, so i thought i would try them again and try a few different veg i haven't tried before.

lostinrates

katholicos wrote: »

cape gooseberry and aubergine last year but ad zilch success, they grew but didn't produce fruit, so i thought i would try them again and try a few different veg i haven't tried before.

I've had very little luck with physalis in the past. They are pretty though, so worth a little space as a flower border annual with the very few precious fruits cut in half and shared with an OH.

sirbrainy

We're growing Alpine strawberries.

Admittedly not through choice lol, they just appeared a couple of years ago and have now colonised a great big pile of rubble in the corner.

Tasty if you can get them before the local wildlife.

Money_maker

I have an artichoke that I planted about 5 years ago. Never tried it but love the flowers. Same goes for cardoon which is very similar but larger and more architectural.

I have also tried cape gooseberries for the last couple of years but these haven't fruited for me either.

I have pomegranate plants in the greenhouse - look nice but best regarded as a pretty pot plant in this country.

My goji seems a bit biennial as last year there was not much happening but this year it's springing into growth. I also have 2 quince trees which have lovely blossom and large quinces later in the year.

cjb02

achocha (fry em like bell peppers), kiwi (not produced yet) and goji berry (from seed and no berries yet)

Sambucus_Nigra

Done Achocha, tomatillos, cape gooseberries, goji berries, peanuts, okra, african horned cucumber in the past.

This year it's Lupino Beans, Tar Heel Beans [sent from the USA from a family grown them since they came to the USA], Guthrie's Ground Plum [looks like a plum, tastes like a pea], Buckshorn Plantain [a salad crop] and probably a few others I can't quite remember....

ginvzt

I am just getting my garden in order, and I have some artichokes in the pots germinating, 4 crowns on asparagus waiting to be replanted into ground, trying few different aubergines as well (Slim Jim, Rosa Bianca) - tried aubergines before, first year had a few and they were so tasty, last year no luck, so giving it a go again.

I got kohl rabi pack from Aldi and they have all germinated. Will be a bit of a job to transplant them all!

Horseradish is planted in a pot/bucket, but no sign of life yet. We have lemongrass, which we brought inside for the winter, and it has the longest leaves! We will be growing Thai basil again (need to resow as took it to the greenhouse and it got frozen!). Will be growing chillies (Aji limon and hot chocolate habanero as well).

I want to get the gherkins growing - I love them, but last year only got 1 gherkin. Lovely with sugar or honey....

ginvzt

Oh, and I have a blueberry 'Top hat' - miniature, really. I had it for two summers already, and had a couple of berries the first summer, a bit more last year, and I hope to have even more this year. I also bought three more now and planted them all in our heather/blueberry/cranberry bed. I had no cranberries yet, the plants will be in they third year in my care (bought from Ken Muir in 2009 spring).

Oh, and I have got lemon and orange trees as well this year - never had any lemons before, in fact, my lemon tree died last year, and seems that the lime tree I bought to replace it with has died as well. But I am still willing to try and see if I can get somewhere with this!

rabidbun

Achocha (only ever need one), tomatillos (usually three so they pollinate well), weird and wonderful varieties of beans and peas (some will be 10ft plants, so will be interesting to harvest!), bilberries, lemongrass (abandoned due to the cuts from the leaves), various other herbs (red perilla, quillquina, papalo and basils), mizuna, mibuna, different types of chillies most years, weird versions of normal veggies such as purple carrots.

Also trying root parsley this year. And kailaan next year once I rig up a small bed with enviromesh to stop the bugs.

pinkcandyflossprincess

sirbrainy wrote: »

Strange nobody seems to grow globe artichokes commercially in the UK. The traditional place to grow them in France is Brittany, where the climate is not very different to Cornwall-Devon-Somerset.

when i lived in brixham in devon one old lady used to grow them in her front garden- it allways reminded me of Corfu for some reason:)